Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for interfacing with the Internet, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for interfacing, editing, and adding information to a website using a facsimile machine thereby permitting users without any programming skills to add and/or alter content on predetermined Internet websites.
An important use of computers is the transfer of information over a network of computers. The largest computer network in existence is the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide interconnection of computer networks that communicate using a common communications protocol. Millions of computers, from low end personal computers to high-end super computers are coupled to the Internet.
One of the more popular protocols used to communicate information over the Internet and also used in private company intranets is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which delivers documents typically in the form of a text document coded in a standard Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) such a document is called a Web documents. One or more related documents can make up a Web site. The network of computers that participate and support HTTP over the Internet is commonly referred to as the World Wide Web or the Web.
The Web is generally facilitated by a xe2x80x9cWeb Browserxe2x80x9d. The Web browser receives HTML documents and renders the information in conformance with the instructions and data contained within the received documents. Although text based Web browsers exist, the more common and popular Web browsers provide users with a graphical user interface (GUI) to receive and interact with information on the Web.
The architecture of the Web follows a conventional client-server model. The terms xe2x80x9cclientxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d are terms of art used to refer to a computer""s general role as a requester of data (the client) or provider of data (the server). The roles of client and server are dynamic. During one exchange of information a computer may be the server, but during another exchange of information, the same computer may be the client.
In the Web environment, Web browsers in conjunction with computers are in the role of clients and Web documents reside on Web servers. A Web browser opens a connection to a Web server and initiates a request for a Web document. The Web server delivers the requested Web document to the Web browser. The Web document may be static or dynamic. A static Web document exists prior to any request from a client. A dynamic web document is assembled after receiving a request for a client. Dynamic Web documents enable web servers to offer more personalized and specific information to users.
Information on the Web is identified by a Universal Resource Locator (URL). A URL specifies a server and a particular document on that server. Portions of Web documents contain hypertext links which are associated with URLs. The hypertext link enables users to retrieve other Web documents by selecting the hypertext link within the Web browser. The Web browser will then request the Web document identified by the URL which is associated with the selected hypertext link.
There has been an explosion of interest in the use of the World Wide Web and the Internet in general. A presence of some kind on the Internet with a Web site has become a requisite for conducting business in today""s society. Moreover, businesses exclusive to the Web are being created in record numbers.
Companies that have a presence on the Web or those that have Web sites, usually employ specially trained personnel to maintain those Web documents and Web servers that comprise the company""s Web sites. These personnel are called xe2x80x9cWeb Mastersxe2x80x9d and are trained in creating documents comprised of HTML code and graphics files and maintaining the Web servers that communicated to client computers requesting specific URLs. The knowledge and training required to create and maintain a Web site can be extensive and out of the reach of most online users and small businesses.
One of the great attractions of publishing on the Web is the immediacy of the medium. If one knows how to code text and images in HTML, then a page of an entire Web site can be updated corrected or even completely overhauled in a short time and instantly made available to the millions of people who currently have access to the Web. The prerequisite training is too difficult for many people, or people are simply unmotivated to study the information required.
The present invention enables individuals and businesses to create or update the contents of a Web site using a fax machine, or a computer simulating a fax machine, or the like, without any knowledge of HTML or maintaining a Web server. Recently many patents have been issued relating to the Internet and other networking systems. None of these patents disclose the ability to maintain the contents of a Web site using a facsimile machine or the like to add or change text and possibly graphics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,077, entitled Method and Apparatus for Searching for and Retrieving Documents Using a Facsimile Machine, discloses a method and apparatus that enables persons without computers to search the Web and retrieve documents. The user submits a search request via a facsimile machine. A computer reads the facsimile transmission to determine the search parameters. A search of content indexed from the Web is performed based on the search parameters. The results of the search are then transmitted via facsimile to the requesting party. This patent does not teach a method and apparatus for updating the contents of a web site using a facsimile machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,989, entitled Method and Apparatus for Adding and Altering Content on Websites, uses a telephone and interactive voice-response technology, database software, streaming audio technology to enable a user to create and modify web pages. The user interacts via the telephone to access predetermined and authorized features of the system. The patent does not disclose the use of a facsimile machine to transmit data to be used in updating a Web site.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,507, entitled Message Storage and Delivery System, enables users to receive facsimile messages, voice messages and data messages at a central office and then retrieve those messages from the central office using a computer with a Web browser connected to the Web. The patent does not teach the ability to update a web site using a facsimile transmission. The system disclosed in the patent uses the Web to retrieve messages that have already been delivered. The content of the message is irrelevant and remains unexamined.
A method of updating a Web site maintained by a web server capable of receiving and responding to requests for information from Web clients and coupled to a computer database comprising the steps of transmitting an encoded transmission comprising a first portion in the format of a facsimile communication intended to be converted into digital information suitable for being stored in the computer database and a second portion identifying a key to be used by the computer database for storing the digital information. Receiving the encoded transmission and converting the first portion into the digital information having a predetermined format. Storing the digital information in the computer database using the second portion as a key to the computer database. Wherein upon receiving a request from a Web client, the Web server retrieves the digital information from the computer database and transmits the digital information to the Web client in a format compatible with the request received from Web client.
In another embodiment according to the invention, the digital information describes a discount coupon intended to be printed and presented for redemption.
In yet another embodiment according to the invention the digital information describes a classified advertisement.
In yet another embodiment according to the invention, a system for of updating a Web site maintained by a web server coupled to a computer file system and capable of receiving and responding to requests for information from Web clients comprising a digital computer coupled to the computer file system and capable of receiving a facsimile transmission and having a conversion mechanism for converting portions of a facsimile transmission into a predetermined digital information format. Wherein upon receiving a facsimile transmission the conversion mechanism converts portions of the facsimile transmission into the predetermined digital information format and stores the digital information in the computer file system. Therefore the web server can retrieve the digital information from the computer file system in response to a request for the digital information from a Web client.
In yet another embodiment according to the invention, a system for of updating a Web site maintained by a web server capable of receiving and responding to requests for information from Web clients comprising a digital computer capable of receiving a facsimile transmission and having a conversion mechanism for converting portions of a facsimile transmission into a digital information format. Further comprising a computer database system coupled to the digital computer and coupled to the Web server and capable of storing digital information organized into records whereby each record is identified by a key. Wherein upon receiving a facsimile transmission the conversion mechanism converts portions of the facsimile transmission into digital information and stores the digital information in the computer database system. Thereby enabling the web server to retrieve the digital information from the computer file system in response to a request for the digital information from a Web client.